Sacrifice
by Elennare
Summary: Moments in the Battle of Hogwarts, through Ginny's eyes. Daydverse story, written for 09 Battle of Hogwarts contest.


___Spoilers: _Dumbledore's Army and the Year of Darkness by thanfiction (.net/u/1550595/)._  
__Warnings: _Character deaths  
_Notes: _Written for the Battle of Hogwarts Contest on .com (March-April 09), and therefore dedicated to the 200,000-300,000 child soldiers (under 15) who are currently estimated by Human Rights Watch to be serving in active combat worldwide.

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Ginny paced furiously around the Room of Requirement. To be in the castle, but shut in without any news of what was going on outside, was driving her mad. What made it worse was that she understood why her parents had made her stay in here when she had refused to leave. She was their youngest child, their little girl, and they had to protect her. Of course she understood, how could she not? It was exactly what the DA had been doing all year with the DC, protecting them when they could, holding them as they cried, teaching them to defend themselves so they wouldn't be helpless targets when the time came to fight.

But Ginny knew she wasn't a child anymore. She hadn't been for a long time, because how could you be a child when you were tortured for speaking your mind, when you watched your friends being tortured, when you knew you had to fight, because no-one else would fight for you? When you had spent a year training and practising and getting ready, so you would take some of them out before you died? None of the DA were kids anymore, no matter what the dates on their birth certificates might read. They were soldiers; this was their battle, and they would fight in it. _She_ would fight.

She would fight... but she had promised she would stay in here. The red-head swore bitterly. She was beginning to think it might have been better to go with the other sixth-years when they were evacuated. They were sure to be locked in somewhere, but she doubted there was anything that would hold them for too long once they decided to escape.

A faint noise, like pebbles clicking together, came from the portrait entrance, interrupted her thoughts. Ginny spun around, wand at the ready. Her eyes widened in desbelief as she recoginsed the spiky pink hair, bright even in the gloom of the tunnel. What in Merlin's name was Tonks doing here? She watched, arms crossed, as Tonks scrambled rather awkwardly out of the tunnel entrance.

"Ginny? What are you doing here?" The young ex-Auror was obviously surprised.

"I promised to stay here... but more to the point, what are you doing here?" Ginny demanded. "Weren't you staying with your mother to look after Teddy?"

"Yes, but... I had to come, I couldn't stand not knowing-"

"So you left your son alone and unprotected?" Ginny cut her off, furious. "Just so you could know what was going on?"

"No." Tonks still looked anguished, but her voice was strong. "I came because tonight, everything will be decided. I know what the odds are, and even one wand can make a lot of difference."

"And Teddy? What about him?"

"If we lose, Mother will leave the country with him. And if it comes to that, they - a Pureblood and her grandson - will be safer without us, without a halfblood and a werewolf. And if we win, but Remus and I die... We love Teddy, and we'll willingly sacrifice our lives so his can be lived without the shadow of fear hanging over it, and I hope someday he'll understand that."

Tonks's eyes had filled with tears towards the end, but she had never looked away, and Ginny knew she truly meant it. She bit her lip, embarassed.

"I'm sorry, Tonks, I didn't mean - I just - I'm sick of being stuck here, and I took it out on you. And what you said... you're right, and I'm really sorry." she said, blushing to the roots of her hair.

Tonks gave her an awkward smile. "Oh it's all right..." she started to say, then broke off and stared at the portrait. Ginny turned her head, and her jaw dropped as, once again , she saw a familiar person climb out. No pink hair here, though; instead, a vulture-topped hat crowned an imposing figure.

"Mrs Lupin, Miss Weasley." Augusta Longbottom said, inclining her head regally. Then, in a sharper tone, she added to Ginny "Close your mouth, girl, before something flies in."

Ginny's mouth snapped shut almost of its own accord, and she remained silent, feeling her face grow hot at the rebuke. She suddenly understood Neville's old diffidence much better. Augusta continued speaking, undeterred.

"Does either of you know what the current situation of the battle is?"

Both young witches shook their heads, but before they could elaborate, the door flew open, as Harry, Ron and Hermoine burst into the room. A smile instantly appeared on Ginny's face as she saw they were all still alive, but it didn't allay her fears for everybody else.

"Ah, Potter,"came Augusta's crisp tone "You can tell us what's going on."

"Is everyone okay?"Ginny and Tonks asked together, seconds after Mrs Longbottom.

Ginny let out a breath she had hardly realised she had been holding when Harry's answer confirmed they were, as far as he knew. She grinned, delighted, when Harry told her she had to leave the Room, and ran after Tonks, who had left seconds after Augusta. She could hear Harry shouting after her, but she ignored him. She was out now, and she was going to fight.

* * *

With the high, cruel voice still echoing in the hallway, the remaining Death Eaters turned on the spot and Disapparated. Ginny straightened from the crouch she had dropped into seconds ago, as McGonagall's magically amplified words rang out, calling survivors to the Great Hall.

The past hours were little more than a blur, of running and spinning and ducking and hexing and blocking and never stopping, even for one second, because there was no time, because to stand still could mean your death; but it wasn't hard, not really, not with adrenalin pounding through your body, heightening your senses more than ever before and keeping you going when you should have dropped from exhaustion.

Ginny had stood guard over Sally-Anne since the other witch had fallen. With Rowan covering her back and shielding her, she had used her whip-sharp attack against their enemies to devastating effect, killing eight Death Eaters and wounding many more. Now, at last, there was time to stop, to thank Rowan. Ginny turned around and froze.

She knew they had been badly outnumbered, had noticed hexes being deflected by Rowan's spells, but she hadn't realised until then how much Rowan had shielded her from, not just with magic, but with her body. Her robes were in shreds, her body battered, she was bleeding from more injures than Ginny could count, but she was still, somehow, amazingly, alive. Only now, when the Death Eaters had left, did she finally fall.

Ginny dropped to her knees beside Rowan, her fingers frantically searching for a pulse. It was weak, erratic, barely noticeable, but it was there; and having found it Ginny didn't hesitate to lift her, spin on the spot, and Apparate - for the second time in her life - to the Great Hall.

Mentally, she was pleading for Rowan's life, begging any powers that might be to spare the friend who had given so much to protect her; but even as Mrs. Weasley reached them, Ginny felt the broken body in her arms exhale a final breath. Gently, she laid Rowan down, tears forming in her eyes.

"Thank you" she whispered. Her throat was too tight to say any more, but those two short words that meant so many more came from the bottom of her heart.

Standing, she forced herself to look around. Her heart constricted at the sight. Dean, Morag, Jack... Trelawney, Orla, Natalie... Padma, Katie, Lavender... Tonks, Lupin ... And next to Lupin, a flash of the bright ginger hair she had been dreading. Fred. Her mother's strangled cry showed she had seen him too, and the next moment, they were next to him.

Molly dropped next to him, sobbing, but Ginny remained standing. She stared down at her brother's face, unable to believe it. Fred couldn't be dead, he _couldn't_ be! There was still a faint smile on his lips... In a moment he was going to sit up, laughing at them with George... but George was kneeling at Fred's head, and the look on his face said all too plainly what he had lost. Ginny's face crumpled, her knees buckled; she would have fallen, but Hermione was there, to cath her and hold her as she wept.

It wasn't just Fred, though that would have been far too much on its own; it was Rowan and her incredible bravery, it was each and every one of the bodies in that line that streched out much too far. She wept for them all, DA, Order, teachers, for everyone who had made the ultimate sacrifice in this battle, and for everyone who would make it in the fighting still to come.

There was so much to mourn for, and Ginny wanted nothing more than to do just that, to stay with her family, and grieve. But this wasn't the moment, not yet; it wasn't the end. It was just a reprieve, one that had to be used to find the injured, the missing and - please, no more! - the dead.

So the DA gathered together, tearing themselves from the side of loved ones lost, and planned the search for the missing. A search of hope, but also of dread for what they might find. Ginny moved to the doors, ready to search the ground as Neville had commanded. Before stepping outside, though, she looked back, at her brother, at the friend who had sacrificed herself to protect her, at all the dead and the wounded, and a fierce oath was sworn in her heart. _I will fight for you. I will bleed for you. I will die for you, if need be, but I will win for you. I won't let your sacrifice be worthless. None of this - this pain, this suffering - will be in vain._

Ginny walked out, keen eyes searching for any sign of survivors. Her unspoken promise ran through her mind. Hollow words? She smiled grimly. Maybe, but not if sheer courage and determination could prove them otherwise.

THE END


End file.
